Islamabad, April 5 (IANS) Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena arrived here on Sunday evening on a three-day state visit to hold talks on bilateral and regional issues, officials said.
This is the newly-elected President Sirisena’s maiden visit to Pakistan since assuming office this January, Geo News reported.
Sirisena was received at the Benazir International Airport by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at a military airbase near here. He was given a 21-gun-salute on arrival.
The Sri Lankan president will hold talks with President Mamnoon Hussain and Prime Minister Sharif on Monday. A number of memorandums of understanding/agreements of cooperation in various fields would be signed following the talks, a foreign ministry statement said.
Being members of the regional SAARC and Commonwealth, Pakistan and Sri Lanka cooperate closely and coordinate with each other on issues of common interest and regional and international concern.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1948.